Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Director John B. Williams Sells 2,830 Shares

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value of $71,004.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 66,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,678,897.35. This represents a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Associated Banc Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of ASB opened at $25.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.88. Associated Banc-Corp has a one year low of $19.76 and a one year high of $28.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.72.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. Equities research analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ASB. StockNews.com cut Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Associated Banc

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $431,798,000 after buying an additional 1,444,068 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,838,422 shares of the bank’s stock worth $354,638,000 after buying an additional 1,272,441 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 3.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $177,282,000 after buying an additional 261,877 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,849,649 shares of the bank’s stock worth $92,026,000 after buying an additional 265,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 11.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,036,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,401,000 after buying an additional 305,133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Company Profile

Associated Banc-Corp, a bank holding company, provides various banking and nonbanking products to individuals and businesses in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. The company offers lending solutions, including commercial loans and lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, letters of credit, leasing, asset based lending and equipment finance, loan syndications products, residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, auto finance and business loans, and business lines of credit.